Under the direction of Waimea High School’s Spanish teacher, Juliane Kellogg, seven members of the Waimea High School Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica (Spanish Honor Society) volunteered their time and talent last semester to teach Spanish language and culture classes to the
Under the direction of Waimea High School’s Spanish teacher, Juliane Kellogg, seven members of the Waimea High School Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica (Spanish Honor Society) volunteered their time and talent last semester to teach Spanish language and culture classes to the Waimea Boys and Girls Club.
Every Wednesday afternoon beginning in October the honor society members taught basic Spanish language such as greetings, numbers, colors and family vocabulary to approximately ten elementary students.
They also taught students to make traditional Mexican handicrafts such a papeles picados (paper banners), flores de papel (paper flowers) and homemade pinatas. The classes concluded on December 17 with a fiesta including tortillas, quesadillas, guacamole and plenty of salsa.
Waimea High School Spanish Honor Society member Benjie Baclig, who is also active in the Boys and Girls Club, initiated the activity and made the initial arrangements with The Boys and Girls Club Youth Development Director, Loel Mawae. Benjie’s sister, Bessie, who is president of the Waimea High School chapter of the Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica, recruited five other society members to help teach the classes: Caralyn Broyles, Jade Cano, Rouben Buyat, Nicole Cabellero and LeAnn Lazaro.
The Sociedad Honoraria Hispanic is a national organization with chapters in over 1600 high schools across the United States, including nine in the State of Hawai‘i. The Society recognizes students who have excelled in the study of the Spanish language for at least four semesters. Members must have a 3.75 grade point average in Spanish and also demonstrate a strong desire and motivation to learn the Spanish language.
In May of 2008 a chapter was established at Waimea High School and twenty Spanish 2 students were inducted into the society. There are currently eighteen SHH members attending Waimea High with the anticipation that another group of approximately twenty second and third year Spanish students will be inducted in May 2009.
• Judy Cano is the PCNC at Waimea High School.
